Sen. Kirk discusses King legacy at YouthBuild Rockford event

Newly-elected U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) spoke at YouthBuild Rockford’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration Jan. 17. Kirk (at left in top photo) discusses YouthBuild with YouthBuild Rockford students Tony Frazier (right) and Patricia Lindsay (center). Frazier (far left in bottom right photo) presents Kirk with a souvenir of YouthBuild Rockford. Kirk stressed King’s passion for service while addressing members of YouthBuild Rockford (bottom left photo). YouthBuild serves out-of-school youth ages 16-24 who are from low-income communities, have dropped out of school and are unemployed. YouthBuild provides academic education, vocational skills training, personal counseling, positive peer support, leadership development, job placement and follow-up support. Young people spend half their time in academic programming and half their time learning skills in construction or computer technology. Kirk praised YouthBuild students for continuing King’s legacy by volunteering throughout the community. He said he also hoped future generations could only learn of racism through history books. For more about YouthBuild Rockford, visit www.youthbuildrockford.org.